Report: Google, Amazon pursued Beatles too

Google, Apple, and Amazon all pursued licensing deals for The Beatles music, according to a published report.

The New York Post wrote today that all three of the digital powers were in the running, but Apple triumphed. Apple announced Tuesday that iTunes would start offering The Beatles catalog for download. Beatles songs will be available at iTunes through 2011. The financial terms of the deal were not released

According to the Post, Roger Faxon, EMI's CEO, initiated the talks and helped convince Apple Corp., the Beatles' business management company, to sign off on a digital agreement.

For years, the Beatles chose to forgo offering songs for download. That didn't stop many fans from ripping Beatles' CDs to their computers or downloading them illegally off of peer-to-peer services.

Representatives from Google and Amazon were not immediately available for comment.